Paradise Lost: Lucifer’s Blurred Lines

As Syria is turning into something close to our idea of Hell, we are still talking about Miley Cyrus. I am not judging, this makes total sense to me; if there is one story Americans’ have grasped, understood, and been influenced by it is Milton’s “Paradise Lost”–the story of Lucifer falling from Heaven.

I’m sorry my Evangelical friends but that story doesn’t come from the bible (I know the ‘Mourning Star’, but chances are that was some occupier of Israel.) Yet, this story is ingrained into our consciousness just like our Puritan Work Ethic and I think we still secretly miss having a King.

Though many ultra-right conservatives will say Obama is a dictator/king dictator, celebrity culture has become our royalty and when angelic Miley got humped by a dude (who is a great artist) looking like a douchey demon Bettlejuice we got see another star fall. It is interesting saying ‘star falling’ I am no Reza Aslan but I would imagine it comes from Milton’s story of Lucifer.

It’s a great story and it will always capture our imagination. Kings were once like gods or at least chosen by the Divine–by the angels. We have love affair for angels as well, they are something between man and God. The idea of an angel losing its innocence, acting out of ego, and hubris creating their fall as they turn ‘evil’ will always be more interesting than a real battle of evil.